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W E E K O F M O N D A Y , J U LY 2 4 , 2 0 1 7
services
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real
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weekly
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massachusetts
A Publication of The Warren Group OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPANSION
Community Banks See Branch Growth As Big Banks Pull Back M&As Increase In A Bid For Customer Acquisition BY BRAM BERKOWITZ BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
B
ank of America has closed more than 70 branch locations in Massachusetts in the past eight years, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data. During the same time, TD Bank has closed 17 branches; Santander has closed 13 and Citizens has closed nine. But as large banks have reduced their footprint locally and nationally since the number of bank branches in Massachusetts and the U.S. peaked in 2009, community banks are seizing on the opportunity to increase their physical presence in Massachusetts. Berkshire Bank has made seven acquisitions since 2005, adding 14 branches in Massachusetts and more than 50 overall since 2009. The most recent acquisition of Commerce Bank, which is still in the works, would give the bank more than $12 billion
STALLED RECOVERY BY JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
A TALE OF TWO MARKETS
T
North-Central Massachusetts Real Estate Recovery Lags Behind State
A Dubious Honor
he weeks after the Fourth of July are typically slow for the residential real estate market; it’s a good time to reflect on the market overall. Statewide, things are booming. The median sale price of a single-family home shot up to $395,000 in June, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. This marks 15 straight months of year-over-year price increases going back to April of 2016. And early reports are that June sales were robust. However, not all of the state’s 351 municipalities are shattering price ceilings. The median price of a single-family home in many communities is still well below the 2005 watermark, while prices in some communities like Cambridge and Charlestown are way up and on track to double their 2005 sale price within a few years.
“Castle Rock” is a Hulu series based on the eponymous fictional, hardscrabble town where dozens of Stephen King’s horror stories take place. When the producers were looking for a place to film that would resemble the town first mentioned in The Dead Zone, it chose Orange, Massachusetts. “We have a blight,” said Paul Riendeau, broker/owner of Four Columns Realty in Orange. “People are exContinued on Page 8
Continued on Page 3 ROBUST DIALOGUE
An Incomplete Grade For Seaport Plan BPDA Wants Seaport Developer To ‘Think Deeper’
2005
2015
2016
2017 YTD
Decrease 2005 v 2017
BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
Millbury
$310,500
$245,000
$276,250
$254,000
-18.20%
S Development’s attempt to boost density on 12 acres of prime Seaport District real estate is a high-stakes litmus test for the Boston Planning and Development Agency and its approach to extracting concessions for parks, cultural space and transportation upgrades. WS says its proposed game plan for the Seaport parcels it bought in 2015 for $359 million reflects unmet demand for more office space and multifamily housing in the city’s fastest-changing neighborhood. With a 1.7-million-square-foot increase in office space and 700 additional residential units comes redesigns that would improve the ar-
Orange
$178,750
$131,500
$136,750
$144,900
-18.94%
Hyannis Gardner Athol
$327,000
$242,500
$260,000
$265,000
-18.96%
$219,000
$165,000
$165,000
$170,000
-22.37%
$179,000
$122,000
$130,125
$129,450
-27.68%
W
Continued on Page 9
All median sale prices for single-family homes
Source: The Warren Group
CONTENTS
Residential ��������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Banking & Lending ��������������������������������������������������� 6
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 10
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1